Ridge Vineyards Monte Bello California 2014

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Ridge’s Monte Bello vineyards is said to be the coldest cabernet-sauvignon-producing area in California, thanks to cool maritime winds, only 25 km far from Pacific Ocean, and vineyards at altitude, planted near the top of Monte Bello Ridge. Combined with the excellent winemaking skills of Paul Draper, Ridge Vineyards Monte Bello maybe the most elegant Cabernet Sauvignons of California. Here is some history;

1971 Ridge Monte Bello was ranked a respectable fifth at the 1976 Judgment of Paris. In the 2006 re-enactment (which was decided to repeat this tasting in 30 years claiming that California wines wouldn’t age as nicely as French wines would), Ridge Monte Bello took the top honour, outperforming its Napa (Stag’s Leap, Mayacamas Vineyards, Heitz ‘Martha’s Vineyard) and first-growth Bordeaux (Mouton Rothschild, Chateau Montrose, Chateau Haut-Brion, Chateau Leoville Las Cases) rivals, eighteen points ahead of the second-place wine. And the judges in the UK side included such well-known experts as Michael Broadbent, Hugh Johnson, Jancis Robinson, and Michel Bettane.

AWARDS AND REVIEWS

#44 in James Suckling Top 100 Wines of 2017

98 points, James Suckling

Unique aromas of blackberry, black currant, dark chocolate and walnut. Full body, very powerful and tannic. Incredible depth and power. Precise and so focused. Muscular. Great structure. This needs at least six to eight years to come together

97 Points, The Wine Advocate

A worthy successor to the profound 2013 and the fruit of the earliest harvest on record at this address, the 2014 Monte Bello is still quite youthfully expressive, wafting from the glass with an exuberant bouquet of minty dark berries, plums, black cherries, cigar box and a nicely integrated framing of new oak. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, deep and intense, with a rich chassis of structuring tannins, which are currently largely concealed in a succulent core of fruit, and bright balancing acids. In profile, it's structurally more open-knit and giving than the massive 2013, and I suspect it will reach its plateau sooner, but it should enjoy over three decades of longevity. The blend is 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot, and it attained 13.5% natural alcohol. "The drought had a positive effect on concentration," observed winemaker Eric Baugher when we corresponded shortly after harvest, adding that "the wines are opaque in color, with rich tannins and marvellous fruit." Four years later, that remains an accurate characterization of the 2014 Monte Bello." by William Kelley